Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with Pirates of the Caribbean or Vivziepop.
Chapter 7: A Change in the Wind
(Alastor and Vaggie sail across the sea on the Interceptor. Alastor tightens a line while Vaggie sharpens her sword. Now safe from any pursuers, Vaggie takes to opportunity to seek an answer from him.)
Vaggie: When I was young living in Pentagram City, my mother raised me by herself. After she died, I came out here... looking for my father.
Alastor: Is that so?
(He moves down the ship and she follows.)
Vaggie: (curious) My father. Bill Turner? At the jail, it was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter. I'm not a simpleton, Alastor. You knew my father.
(Alastor turns to her with the same big smile on his face.)
Alastor: (proudly) I knew him. Probably one the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him "Bootstrap" or "Bootstrap Bill".
Vaggie: "Bootstrap"?
(Alastor takes the wheel.)
Alastor: Good man, good pirate. I swear you look just like him.
(Vaggie is stunned by what he just said her father was.)
Vaggie: It's not true. He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law.
(Alastor turns his back to her and steers the ship.)
Alastor: (insistently) He was a bloody pirate. A scallywag.
(Vaggie points her sword at him.)
Vaggie: (stubbornly) My father... was not... a pirate!
(Alastor, feeling unthreatened, doesn't even face her.)
Alastor: (calmly) Put it away, darling. It's not worth you getting beat again.
Vaggie: You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.
Alastor: Then that's not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is it?
(He turns the wheel hard and the sail boom turns sharply and hits Vaggie. She's caught off guard and drops her sword on the deck as the boom dangles her over the side of the ship. Alastor takes her sword and looks at her holding on.)
Alastor: (firmly) Now as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these: What a man or woman can do. And what a man or woman can't do. For instance: you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man... or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, Vaggie, so you'll have to square with that some day. Now me, for example, I can let you drown... But I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesy. Savvy?
(He turns the wheel again and the boom swings back so Vaggie falls back on the deck. He holds her sword out to her.)
Alastor: So, can you sail under the command of a pirate... or can you not?
(Vaggie pauses for a second before taking her sword back.)
Vaggie: (curious) Tortuga?
Alastor: (smiles) Tortuga.
(Later in the day as the sun goes down, they arrive at the coastal town of Tortuga, a dirty, rowdy place where pirates roam free. They dock their ship and walk through the streets. Pirates and associates of pirates alike roam around drinking, firing guns, sword fighting, chasing ladies, and just downright mess with each other.)
Alastor: More importantly, it is indeed a sad lot that has never breathed deep the sweet proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga. What do you think?
(Vaggie looks around feeling uneasy with this environment, but she manages to put up with it for the time being.)
Vaggie: It'll linger.
(A pair of young women nearby take notice of them. One is dark-grey owl demon, the other is a light-grey hellhound.)
Alastor: (proudly) I'll tell you mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted.
(The female owl demon walks up to him with an irritated look on her face.)
Alastor: (delighted) Octavia!
(Octavia slaps him hard and walks off without saying a word. Alastor immediately turns to Vaggie.)
Alastor: (confused) Not sure I deserved that.
(He turns back and the female hellhound walks up to him.)
Alastor: (delighted) Loona!
(Loona smiles and motions to Octavia.)
Loona Who was she?
Alastor: (confused) What?
(She slaps him hard as well and walks off with Octavia with the same irritated look. Alastor again turns to Vaggie.)
Alastor: I may have deserved that.
(They walk around some more.)
Vaggie: We're going to find a crew here?
Alastor: (smiles) Ah, yes. It just so happens that you know the man who knows the man who knows the finest sailors in all Tortuga.
(They go to a stable and find a white-haired spider demon man in a disheveled navy sailor's outfit sleeping with some pigs in a pen. Alastor splashes a bucket of water on him and wakes him up. He immediately gets angry and pulls a knife out.)
Angel Dust: Curse ya for breathing, you slack-jawed fuckwit!
(Then he sees Alastor with Vaggie behind him also holding a bucket. He calms down and puts the knife away.)
Angel Dust: (smiles) Mother's love, Alastor! You know better than to wake a man when he's sleepin'. It's bad luck!
Alastor: Ah, fortunately, I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it, while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking.
Angel Dust: (nods) Aye, that'll about do it.
(Alastor helps Angel to his feet. Vaggie then dumps her bucket of water on him.)
Angel Dust: (annoyed) The fuck?! I'm already awake!
Vaggie: That was for the smell.
(Angel calms down again and shrugs. The three of them go to a tavern where demons drink and fight just like outside. Alastor gets two drinks from the bar and passes Vaggie standing and looking around.)
Alastor: Keep a sharp eye.
(He sits down at a nearby table with Angel and hands a drink to him. He about to chug it when Alastor speaks.)
Alastor: Just the one.
Angel Dust: Best make it last, then, eh?
(They both take small sips.)
Angel Dust: Now, what's the nature of this venture of yor'un?
(He takes another sip as Alastor leans forward.)
Alastor: (quietly) I'm going after the Black Pearl.
(Angel chokes on his rum and looks at him with disbelief.)
Alastor: I know where its going to be, and I'm going to take it.
Angel Dust: (skeptical) Al, it's a fool's errand. You know better than me the tales of the Black Pearl.
Alastor: That's why I know what Pentious is up to. All I need is a crew.
Angel Dust: From what I hear tell of Captain Pentious, he's not a man to suffer fools nor strike a bargain with one.
Alastor: Well, then I'd say it's a very good thing I'm not a fool then, eh?
Angel Dust: Prove me wrong. What makes you think Pentious will give up his ship to you?
Alastor: (smirks) Let's just say it's a matter of leverage, eh?
(Vaggie stays within earshot of them and seemingly listens in on their conversation. Alastor jerks his head towards her. Angel gives him a confused look so Alastor keeps motioning in Vaggie's direction until Angel finally gets it and looks over at her.)
Angel Dust: The girl?
Alastor: That is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His only child. Savvy?
(Angel's eyes widen and he smiles.)
Angel Dust: (intrigued) Is she now? Leverage, says you. I think I feel a change in the wind, says I. I'll find us a crew. There's bound to be some sailors on this rock crazy as you.
Alastor: One can only hope.
(They lift their mugs of rum.)
Alastor: Take what you can.
Angel Dust: Give nothing back!
(They clink them together and take a sip. Some random demons approach Vaggie and she pulls her sword out and kicks a table over. Everyone in the tavern looks at her as she waves her sword around challenging any opponent. She turns to Alastor and Angel who look at her with annoyance.)
Angel Dust: She's a bit of stick, isn't she?
Alastor: You have no idea.
(Vaggie sheepishly puts her sword away and everyone resumes their rowdy behavior.)
And there's good ol' Angel Dust as Gibbs again. Once a navy sailor afraid of pirates and now he's one himself. And he sure does like pigs doesn't he?